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The Mr Murray Radio Show
The Mr Murray Radio Show was an entertainment show which centralised on the character of Mr Murray, dubbed as "the greatest science teacher in the world, but people just don't know it yet..." in a variety of comical situations. The series became more ambitious as it progressed, becoming more risqué, like it's predecessor "The Wild Lives, Wild Times Radio Show", yet it retained a positive image. A total of seven seasons were outlined, spanning from November 2010 to April 2015. History The Mr Murray Radio Show was based around a real life schoolteacher of science by the name of Michael Murray who taught the show's producers between April and July 2010. His impression on them was so great that a series of audio adventures was planned by Chris Wilkinson to broadcast after he left, based on a series of hand-drawn cartoons Wilkinson made in class. Originally, Mr Murray would have been one of the many teachers featured in The Wild Lives, Wild Times Radio Show. However, production problems, inadequately coordinated reception and the fact that teachers who were still at the school featured heavily and may have found out meant that the series was cancelled after just one episode. It broadcast on 16th October 2010. It was planned that three seasons of six episodes would be produced in all. In a rush to get a series out featuring Mr Murray, Chris Wilkinson decided to make him the central character of a new show. Using the same style as the original, The Mr Murray Radio Show features a narrator who speaks in a purposefully dull tone. In just under one month, the first episode of the series went from script to broadcast. The first episode of The Adventures Of Mr Murray was shown on 13th November 2010. The Wild Lives, Wild Times Radio Show was actually referenced in one of The Mr Murray Radio Show episodes when Mr Murray comments on the fact that disciplinary action had been tried before to control the students, but with disastrous results. Format The show was presented entirely though sound, and with the exception of the title sequence and credits, showed a blue/black screen or photograph. Although collectively named "The Mr Murray Radio Show", the seasons themselves went by the season name and not the series name. Each episode featured Mr Murray and the Narrator, who had a deliberately inexpressive voice to describe the action occuring. Most episodes featured other characters, who are fellow schoolteachers, although they were sometimes portrayed as hostile. Most of the early episodes were based upon real-life events that Mr Murray himself took a part in, such as Copper Sulphate and Elderflower Adventure. The later episodes, however, were fictitious and did not actually occur. A majority of Mr Murray's catchphrases were, in fact, real. Seasons ﻿There were a total of seven seasons, broadcast between November 2010 and April 2015. Every season had six episodes included, with the exception of The Memoirs Of Mr Murray which featured just one special divided into two separate parts. *The Adventures Of Mr Murray (November to December 2010) *The Return Of Mr Murray (February to March 2011) *The Life Of Mr Murray (May to June 2011) *The Mishaps Of Mr Murray (July to August 2011) *The Madness Of Mr Murray (November 2011 to February 2012) *The Last Of Mr Murray (June 2012 to August 2014) *The Memoirs Of Mr Murray (April 2015) There were also four specials broadcast over the course of the series. *One Year Of Mr Murray (May 2011) *Mr Murray's House Of Horrors (October 2011) *Mr Murray's Christmas Special (December 2011) *Mr Murray's Olympic Special (August 2012) Episodes See List Of The Mr Murray Radio Show Episodes Title Sequences There were three different styles of title sequence during the show's run. The first, which aired in The Adventures Of Mr Murray, consisted of a blue background with stylised yellow writing and a downbeat jazz theme tune accompanying the visuals. This was replaced by the common black title sequence, which was used between The Return Of Mr Murray and Merry Christmas, Mr Murray. The text and visual effects varied over the seasons, but the design remained roughly the same. This title sequence was accompanied by an upbeat chiptune theme. The final title sequence, which lasted from half way through The Madness Of Mr Murray to The Memoirs Of Mr Murray, showed a CGI photograph of a disgruntled Mr Murray sitting in an armchair, with the text subtly appearing beside him. The theme tune to accompany this was a cheery brass-based sting, composed by Kevin MacLeod of Incompetech Music. From the second season onwards, the end of the show was marked with a humerous call from Chris Wilkinson, such as "see you next week for the return of Mr Murray...", with a purposely elongated tone for the last five words. Characters The characters featured in the series were all based on real life schoolteachers, but for personal reasons, no actual names were disclosed - except in one instance where the name of the music teacher was revealed. Mr Murray played a major satirical role in the show, but in some instances, the comedy came from the other characters' unpredictability and sarcasm in certain situations. Recurring Themes There were multiple recurring themes that featured in the series, most of which are random and humourous. A few are featured below: *Randomly placed crowbar *Naughty disruptive students *Cheap rented flat *Baroque country cottage Series End The Memoirs Of Mr Murray, broadcast in April 2015, marked the end of the Mr Murray Radio Show on ChrizmanUK. As far back as 2011, it was decided that the show would only run for seven seasons, not including the specials. Planning for The Memoirs Of Mr Murray began at the start of November 2014 and ended in April 2015. Unlike previous seasons, Memoirs was only two episodes long and formed part of an epic final adventure for Mr Murray. The final episode ended with a monologue, read by Mr Murray, over which was played some mournful instrumentation - this is the only example in the entire series where anything other than voices were used, the end result having the intended effect of being quite emotional.